the coast guard said the tar balls tested positive for the link to the deepwater horizon. how it got there is a mystery. >> our time has come and the oil

has final come and hit our shores. there may be another reason. >> reporter: choppy sea and strong winds from hurricane alex have sidelined skimmers for nearly a week. the latest winnipeg to fight the battle, "a whale." the coast guard says it still has some kinks. >> "a whale is 1,100 feet long. >> reporter: and not much movement either during what's typically high season. here in pensacola beach, florida, businesses like tim willie's castaway restaurant are left deserted. the end of a holiday weekend proving to be just the start of uncertainty on the gulf coast. frances kuo, nbc news. a massive heat wave is blanketing the northeast and it doesn't look like it's going to be going away any time soon. people did all they could to deal with oppressive temperatures as the heat index soared into triple digits. many tried to cool off at the beach but with many folks heading back to work that option not going to be available. our own meteorologist bill

karins will have more on the heat wavg coming up in just a few minutes. >> secretary of state hillary clinton used her last stop on her so-called pro-democracy tour of eastern europe to take aim at russia. she slammed moscow for not living up to the cease-fire agreement it signed two years ago. clinton called on russia to end its, quote, occupation of georgia's two break-away regions, areas that were the site of a brief war in 2008. the remarks were seen as an attempt to reassure georgians that they still have u.s. support even as the obama administration works on improving its ties with russia. israel says it will lift its european blockade over consumer goods. due to security concerns, strict limits on building materials will remain in place. yesterday the white house welcomed those changes which were announced as prime minister benjamin netanyahu left for washington. he is set to meet with president obama later today. meanwhile turkey is threatening

to cut diplomatic ties with israel unless it gets an apology. the may incident left nine turks dead and sparked international condemnation. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. officials in pennsylvania are investigating what caused a firework to spray horizontally into a crowd on a fourth of july celebration. home video captured the incident in which 11 people suffered burns and scrapes. fortunately police say none of those injuries are light-threatening. stifling heat in virginia added another element of danger to a house fire. firefighters had to call for backup as temps climbed into the 90ers. a second crew came in while the first cooled down and rehydrated. within a few hours the blaze was brought under control. colorado residents are cleaning up after mother nature put on her own show for the fourth of july. the show wul golf ball-sized hail. windshields of about 20 cars were shattered in the severe weather. in southern california,

authorities are warning of potentially dangerous waves from the remnants of hurricane celia. eight to ten-foot waves are expected to continue today before eventually tapering off. back in colorado, one town likes to go beyond your typical barbecue for the fourth of july. every year they host a chicken fly festival. this is where feathered friends are placed in a specially designing mailbox and then gently nudged out from a bathroom plunger from the air. no chickens were hurt in the event which raises money for charity. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. hey, bill. good morning. . always wondered hor far a chicken could fly. >> you can go to colorado and find out. >> with a plunger. >> it's a gentle nudge, bill. >> all right. let's talk about this heat wave, everybody. good morning. hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend. we didn't quite hit 100

yesterday. new york, new jersey, was one of the hottest spots. it was 99 in new york city all the way down to d.c. it was the same story. the thing that was good was it wasn't all that humid out, but that's going to change. the humidity levels are coming up ever so slightly today and tomorrow. that's why i think we haven't seen the worst of this heat wave. right now temperatures are very warm. 83 still at this hour in new york city. i mean if you're at 83 now, you're easily going to get up there today. the actual forecast is for 101 in central park. this is going to be the warmest temperature. hartford has a chance aalong with philly, trenton, baltimore, d.c., richmond. this is going to be a white spread area of triple-digit heat. as far as what we're dealing with in the middle of the country, this is where the moisture is. it continues up through a and areas of milwaukee. we're going to wash down around the gulf. all the clean-up efforts, the waves are still too high. that's not going to change any time soon.

that's a look at your tuesday forecast. now here's a look outside your window. sarasota, same for you. clear skies an warm conditions up around detroit. 94 for your high. also in st. louis, 93 and steamy outside chance of a thunderstorm. will, thomas, tomorrow will be a little cooler humidity will be hieler. >> thanks, bill. this week ahead on wall street the oil drops and business pluses and minuses of the world cup. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, is today the day lindsay lohan finally pays for her years of hard partying and strange behavior. also lucky number seven for roy halladay and amar'e stoudemire is in a new york state of mind. you're watching "early today." ,

stoudemire is in a new york state of mind. you're watching "early today."

hi, everybody, and welcome back to "early today." i'm thomas roberts. and here are some of your top headline this morning. queen elizabeth got a high-tech tour while visiting canada yesterday. she stopped by the headquarters of research in motion. they make the blackberry. she was given a new top of the line model which the 84-year-old is said to be a hulk fan of. next store for the queen, new york city. meanwhile figures released by buckingham palace reveal that at the current rate of spending the queen's cash reserves are set to run out in two years. the royal household says visits an receptions could be slashed in 2012 after the queen celebrates her 60th anniversary on the throne. taxpayers shell out over $57 million a year, which amounts to 94 cents a person. the queen trying to cut on her costs. she managed to spend a million on stationary and over a million on garden parties.

>> in italy they claim to be serving up a super tomato that can slow the aging process. they say the super ingredient is a high concentration of lycopene known to be a very powerful antioxidant. and many israeli soldiers have become an internet star to do a quick performance. the dance has been a huge hit on the web but not for the military tl report says the dancing soldiers could face disciplinary action. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day after the long holiday weekend. the dow opens at 9, 686 after falling 46 points on friday. the s&p dropped 4%, the nasdaq dropped 9%. let's take a look overseas. trading in tokyo, the nikkei added 71, while in hong kong the hang seng rose. the june jobs report came on top of the week of broad-based losses. a weak economic outlook here at home and in china sent asian

markets already short on optimism lower this morning. japan's nikkei hit a fresh seven-moont low struggling against higher u.s. futures and a safe bet surge in the yen. sagging sentiment fueled fears crude demand could dip dragging the oil price to a four-week low below $72 a barrel. however, elsewhere overseas it wasn't all doom and gloom. the debt-ridden country is on track to meet and perhaps exceed and slash its swelling deficit thanks in part to increased taxes. here at home investors who aren't taking the rest of the week off will get a read on the country's nonmanufacturing activity. discounter family dollar weigh s in tomorrow followed by retail sales and jobless claims on thursday. daimler reported a healthy 13% spike in sales of their mercedes-benz auto it helped drive mercedes to its best june sales performance ever. s. the clock is ticking for bank of america customers who racked up points on the bank's national

league football credit cards. unused points are set to expire at the end of august when barclays takes over the nfl account. and finally speaking of football. a new study suggests that workplace productive is taking a hit from the world cup with germany and england losing an estimated $10 billion. but it hasn't been a total loss. one south korean retailer credits fab whose are too glued to the set to make a pit stop for driving a 168% increase in sales of adult diapers. no, we're not kidding on that one either. all right. so the knicks finally have a star, an off-season drug bust in football, and a fan uses his head to catch a foul ball a. plus, one chicago white sox player puts on a one-man show in the windy city. we'll have it for you. your early morning sports headlines straight ahead. in weather today, the peak of the heat in the east coast, but tomorrow isn't going to be much cooler. your witness forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

hi, everyone. good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports the new york knicks have improvinged their chances of signing fry agent lebron james after reaching an agreement with another big named free agent. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. hi, there, good morning, and start spreading the news. the knicks have made the first

big move in the free agent market. they've agreed to a five-year 100 million dollar deal with amar'e stoudemire. actually it's worth 99.7 mil. who's counting. the all-star forward who played his entire career in phoenix will be reunited with former head coach mike d'antoni. from the penthouse to the outhouse, marcus russell was arrested in alabama for a substance, codeine syrup. the number one draft pick in '07 was released on $2,500 bond. to baseball joey votto continues to put up all-star caliber numbers, but he's not on the team. he had two hits. he has now got 21 this season. votto could still play in the mid summer classic but it's up to the fans to place him on the final all-stars roster. go out and vote for the dude. reds won, 8-6. to the windy city, angels and white sox. carlos quinton tracks it down,

dives, and makes an awesome catch. quinton flashing leather on defense and how about offense. sitting inc. -- sixth inning and golfing within out of the park. two innings later and it's another cue shot. not a bad day at the office. white sox win, 9-2. to philly, he allowed five hits, struck out seven for a second complete game. he's now gone the distance, seven this season, the most in the bigs. phillies won, 3-1. finally back to new york and hats off to this mets fan. he reaches up full extension and catches a foul ball with his hat. who needs an expensive glove when you've got a baseball cap. we tip our hat to you, buddy. great catch. that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis. so apparently not everyone wishing team singing sensation justin bieber well. we'll explain. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, summertime is the right time to build a pool, unless, of course, a dinosaur

interferes. we'll explain that too. you're watching "early today." you're watching "early today." ^ you're watching "early today." ^ you're watching "early today." ^ you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this tuesday morning. if you're just joining us, welcome back. temperatures today continues the heat. actually i think today will be the peak of the heat wave from new york city to d.c. everywhere in between. even the carolinas, it's

unseasonably hot. 91 in atlanta is about average. tropical pool of moisture coming up through new orleans, up into arkansas, kansas city chance of rain. also chance of thunderstorms tomorrow. tomorrow's a lot like today. still very hot mid-atlantic to new england, southern new england and also stormy in the middle. look how cool it gets. billings, temperatures will be below normal for the next couple of days. well, if you're watching us on kark, news 4 in little rock, arkansas, gore if a spin to remember on the arkansas car orkz srkz erkz lrkz. a one-of-a-kind undulating carousel in little rock zoo. that's your "early today" event of the day, thomas. i think we all remember as a kid going to the carousel. >> i do. it's a throwback in time. pretty cool. thanks, bill. now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. apparently lindsay lohan doesn't get it. sources tell tmz although lohan is convinced the judge hates her, she's so accustomed to lawyers getting her out of trouble, she simply expects the

same thing to happen now. england's daily mail reports jude law has gone to cord to stop former wave sadie frost from revealing the secrets of their marriage. meanwhile matt damon raves about his wife luciana to people. she's set to deliver their fourth child coming up in the fall. damon warns it's easier to hire him if you hire him to shoot a movie in new york. finally 16-year-old singer justin bieber has no shortage of tween fans, but not everyone is lining up in his corner. bieber's twitter page asks for votes on which country should tour for next, and there are almost half a million votes to send him to the secret communist nation in northern korea. kim jong-il could be getting a treat, bieber feeber. >> i don't know if he took that into considerings. >> i don't know. he probably thought it would be something fun to visit.

>> this next story comes to up from wmc action news 5 in memphis where in nearby brighton, tennessee, one homeowner got a real surprise when he started digging for a swimming pool in his backyard and that's when he discovered jawbone fossils belonging to a member of the mastodon family, believed to be between 30,000 and 2 million years old. experts say similar bones have been found in texas before but never near the mid-south area of tennessee. the family is donating the bones to a memphis, tennessee, museum. it looks like something is out of fred flintstone. >> remember pollster geist, the poll and -- >> i remember that all too well. i'm thomas roberts, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day, today on your nbc station.

>> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today in hd. >> good morning, everyone. the heat wave continues. we hit 100 yesterday. it will be more uncomfortable today. more human. temperatures already in the 80's downtown -- more humid. hazy, hot, and humid. the heat index between 102 and 107. the actual temperature around 100 degrees. we will check the seven-day forecast coming up in just a few minutes. for now, to the news desk. >> thank you. 80 degrees here on tv hill this morning.

here's a look ahead. >> a high school basketball star is gunned down in his own neighborhood. i will be live with that story. >> israel's prime minister heads to the white house today, a crucial meeting in a crucial photo op her i will explain. >> we are tracking an accident was some closures in cockeysville.

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> live, local, late-breaking, this is wbal-tv 11 news today in hd. >> good tuesday morning. i am mindy basara. >> and i am stan stovall. thank you for joining us this morning. >> tony pann has a quick look at today's forecast. this is ridiculous. >> it is getting ridiculous. this is the third time we hit 100 degrees this summer. that has happened since the late 19th 80's. and is not even hal t